London, United Kingdom – Defaced 1.0, the new iPhone app created by London based developers Apellio, combines creative tools with some of the most advanced features of the iPhone, such as facial recognition and augmented reality. This enables users to deface pictures of their friends and distort and enhance what they see through the lens of their camera.

The focus of the App is to allow users to be creative and have fun doing it.

“Rarely do you see an app which allows people to express themselves and be creative, whilst making use of the amazing technologies available on the iPhone,” said Apellio Creative Director Matt Varughese. “In Defaced we’ve created something really unique, fun and creative. People who’ve used it really love it.”

Defaced uses a unique two-step process. The first step is to draw and add images to a photograph of someone’s face. Users can choose from a range of images including haircuts, facial features, glasses and other accessories. The user can also draw using a selection of colours and brush styles and even has the option of zooming in to draw in detail. The second step is to combine the users artistic creations with the camera, super imposing them onto people’s faces in real time. Interestingly the app can recognise multiple faces through the camera superimposing the creation on all of them at the same time while tracking their movements.

On the surface its fun, light hearted and simple to use, but underneath it makes use of some very advanced technology. Defaced uses a real-time facial recognition algorithm to recognise faces through the iPhone camera. It then uses augmented reality techniques to distort reality and enhance what users see through the lens of the camera. With smart phones advancing at an alarming rate Apellio Creative Director Matt Varughese believes these technologies are well showcased in Defaced.

“Despite these technologies being used in many serious and important ways it is often not until the general public sees them in a fun and accessible way that they really connect with and understand them.”

Apellio is a London based app development company. Copyright (C) 2013 Apellio. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPad, iPad mini, iPod touch, and Mac are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other trademarks and registered trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.